Proposal
by I.Write.Love
Summary: Nick's been looking for something, and Ro and Coach finally noticed. What is he up to? Nellis one-shot. Fluffy.


**AWWW YEAAAA. ANOTHER NELLIS ONE-SHOT. AND THEY ACTUALLY SOUND IN-CHARACTER HERE. BOOYAH! SCORE ONE FOR ME! -puts down a tally-**

**Anywhoo. This story is inspired by several things. I will list them now.**

**1.) The body searching was inspired by this part in "The Walking Dead" comics where one of the characters is looking around in the dead zombie bodies for something. If you haven't read the comics, or watching the AMC show, GO DO IT NOW. They kick ass.**

**2.) While my friend, Jenni, and I were playing, I was crouching down in front of the Jukebox in the Parish's first chapter as Nick, and her, Ellis, was standing in front of me looking down. She suddenly started giggling, and I was like "What?". She said that it looked like Nick was proposing to Ellis with the way he crouches. So I tried it with Ellis crouched in front of Nick, and it just looked like he was crouching. And yes, I swear to god it looks like Nick is proposing. It's lol.**

**3.) It was about to rain one night, and as I was walking Jenni home, I felt the humidity in the air, which inspired me to put this story into the "Hard Rain" campaign (LOLOLOL IT RHYMED). **

**SO YEAH. I'M COOL. I'm also obsessed. As we speak, it looks like it's ready to start pouring outside. I'm thinking I need a shotgun. I've perfected the art of killing Witches with two shots or less. Only with a shotgun... Chainsaw too. Yeah, I need a life.**

**Disclaimer: Zoey's a total idiot. Like, no joke. If I was working at Valve, she would have little more brain not to state the obvious or think freakin' Witches are other survivors. AT LEAST NICK, ELLIS, COACH AND ROCHELLE AREN'T THAT DUMB. FO REALZ.**

**Enjoy. Also, HAPPY EASTER!:D  
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><p>Proposal<p>

It was all really suspicious. For the life of him and Rochelle, Coach could not figure out what it was exactly that kept Nick looking at every dead body and deceased zombie. In the middle of an apocalypse, while the goddamned world was ending, who had time to play autopsy and body search? Nick, since the moment he actually spoke to them in the elevator at the apartments, came off as a no nonsense man, and he could only make the point more and more obvious as he told Ellis time and time again to "shut up" after getting about half-way through a Keith story. Now whether he was jealous of this Keith guy, or just straight up annoyed was beyond them, since it was no surprise when they found out about the obvious attraction between the conman and the redneck. And even though Nick kept his body searching stealthy and secretive, Coach and Ro knew. Ellis, however… Well, Ellis was still just as clueless as ever. Whatever Nick was planning by sneaking around every day after a hoard had receded was safe from the youngest, until he finally noticed, that is.

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><p>The sunset painted oranges and pinks across the horizon, sky lit up at the only thing left completely beautiful in this otherwise messed up world, the only thing that seemed normal to him, even in the least bit. Months… It had been months, since he just sat and stared at something without being interrupted, and back before this- before the zombies, the hoards, the fighting and the killing- it was something he took for granted. It was so strange for him to actually enjoy this moment of complete serenity, just the sound of water hitting the sides of Virgil's boat gently and his own breathing the only things he could hear. Ellis leaned his head against the railing and sighed greatly, a smile creeping over his lips.<p>

They had narrowly escaped the swamp, and if it weren't for Virgil, they probably would have never gotten out of there alive. He shivered at the thought, coming that far, only a few miles from New Orleans, and dead. His optimistic mind shunned it away as soon as it had crossed it, then went back to just thinking about anything, the past few months, the survivors, being evacuated. Nick was always talking about how he couldn't wait to get away from all the fighting, just settle back down into his old gambling ways, and the redneck almost laughed at the thought. The conman never mentioned what he was before the infection, but by the look of his fancy white (or, at least used to be white) suit and expensive gold rings, Ellis could only make an assumption from his small-town knowledge that he was either some kind of felon that escape prison and stole those things, or he was a cheating gambler. Whichever it was, Ellis had rather not of known. Living oblivious was what he did best until now, so he would like to stay that. Not to mention, Nick never made any sort of attempt to tell any of the survivors what he did before the infection, aside from "a lot of shit", and Ellis respected his wishes and never pressed any farther.

Footsteps on the deck made him jump a little as he turned with wide eyes, blinking at the darkening scene as Nick smirked down at him. "Calm down, Overalls. It's just me."

The redneck, even if he hated the nickname, couldn't hold back his smile, and he relaxed and just stared at the sky again. "I wasn't gettin' all excited or nothin'. Ya just scared me."

Nick sat beside Ellis, white suit, blue dress shirt and once nice shoes the polar opposite it seemed of Ellis himself, with his dark blue mechanic overalls, tattered high top sneakers and yellowish-tan "Bullshifter's" T-shirt. Their hair, the same, a chocolate brown, but eyes different, Nick sporting green and Ellis' blue, a hat on the mechanic's head, covering his curlier hair. He subconsciously pulled it down a little, fixing it in the back before Nick spoke. "Virgil said we've got to stop for gas."

Ellis seemed to shrink in his own skin at the comment. "That means goin' on land, don't it?"

"Yeah, which means fighting more of those damn zombies." Nick frowned, not doubt worried about the deteriorating state of his "ten-thousand dollar suit". The man had made it a point several times through the swamp that it was white, at some point in time, but now it was a washed-up muddy white with green splashed here and there. Nick shook his head, ran a hand through his hair and leaned back like Ellis, staring at the sky. "You know, I don't think I've ever paid attention to the sunset before, Overalls."

The mechanic made a face contorted in confusion. "Ya haven't? Where did ya live man, before the zombies and shit?"

"Somewhere where the city lights seem to drown out everything else for miles. I never did like the backwoods country." He chuckled, but Ellis frowned. "Sunsets never interested me much, anyway. You start to loose appreciation for the things in life that are truly beautiful when you're too busy gambling away your rent money and sleeping with cheap hookers."

That was the most Nick had ever told about himself over the time they spent together. "Oh. Well, since I grew up in Georgia, the sunsets weren't ever a problem of seein', ya know? Neither were the stars. Man, I used to stay up all night just starin' at 'em until my ma caught me up at midnight and finally sent me to sleep. I would find weird shapes or words in 'em."

"Sounds like a redneck thing."

"No it ain't." Ellis' mouth formed some sort of lame pout and he shook his head. "Keith would get it, since he ain't a city boy, like you. I guess that you just hafta live in the country, or somewhere far from the city lights to get it…"

Nick's eyes wandered to the sky, and he seemed so far away, so deep in thought, an otherwise calm look on his face as he just stared at the darkening sky. "Or, maybe…" He spoke after a few minutes in silence, green eyes slipping closed gently. "It just takes a disaster for you to finally realize you shouldn't take anything for granted."

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><p>The cool humidity hung in the air, making his shirt stick to his skin in a gross way, feeling like he was peeling away another layer of skin rather then his clothing when he pulled it away from his body. "Damn, it feels like it's fixin' ta rain."<p>

"Judging by the clouds, I would guess so." Rochelle didn't even pause to tell Ellis the news, her feet continuing to pad softly along the concrete as she reloaded her AK-47, Coach beside her, watching for any special infected that might try to nab her in the moment of weakness.

Nick's voice was filled with complaint, something Ellis gotten so used to not hearing. "I hate the rain." Was all he said, green eyes downcast, face screwed up in anger. "Can we find these damn gas cans and get to New Orleans already? I could really go for some cold liquor right now."

Ellis's eyes rolled, and he turned back to watch his front, hoping that Nick could handle the back. "I dunno, I kinda like the rain. It always cooled down Savannah."

"Yeah, boy's right. Summer got so unbearable sometimes, but then some random storm from Texas or Oklahoma just blew through and cooled the entire place down. Our suddenly ninety-to-one-hundred became a low ninety temperature. It was way better, believe me."

The redneck nodded, leaving Nick with more complaints that he wasn't going to voice at the moment. They settled into silence, like they normally did, only the sound of an occasional gunshot reaching their ears. Zombies weren't as heavily populated here as they had anticipated, but loosing their guard over a few less undead then usual wasn't a risk they were willing to take, personally. Every gun was fully loaded, health packs were tapped to each of their backs, pain pills resting in their pockets or hanging from a belt. They were prepared, as normal, but something felt off, like something was wrong.

The four soon realized why. After passing into a few neighborhoods, they came upon the entrance to an old sugar mill, and it sounded like an army of cries came from inside. "Don't tell me…" Nick started, face twisting up in pain. Even Ellis' face had fell.

"Yeah, it's true." Rochelle sighed. "It's a mill full of Witches."

The redneck shivered at the feel of their nails in his flesh, one Witch attack always enough, and subconsciously touched the scar left on his arm, lip pressed between his teeth. He didn't like the idea of going through the entire building, and to the other side when there were enough Witches to take down a small army, much less for four survivors. "This ain't a good idea…" Ellis voiced.

"It's the only choice we got, kiddo." Coach patted him on the back. "I bet ol' Nick will keep ya safe."

Ellis' face turned bright red at the idea, and Nick just snorted, following Coach and Rochelle into the abandoned mill silently. There were some cries nearby, but with expert precision, they were able to navigate upstairs without disturbing a single witch. With a well-placed sigh, Ellis collapsed to the wall, sliding down it with a worried look on his face. "We still gotta get down the elevator shaft, across the sugar cane field, to the gas station and all the way back."  
>Thunder clapped in the distance, and the steady sound of rain accompanied their labored breathing. "And now it's raining. Great." Nick complained, reloading his assault rifle with a huff. "Now what? Are we going to try to get through this place while we can't even see?"<p>

"We don't have much of a choice, Nick…" Rochelle said, turning to him with fire in her eyes. She narrowed them. "Unless, of course, you want to **swim** to New Orleans with your _ten-thousand dollar suit._" She smirked.

Nick growled, pushed past her and Coach, then cock his gun back, looking at them with an irritated frown. "Well? Are we gonna do this or not?"

Coach and Rochelle seemed to smile his _enthusiasm _to go ahead and fight their way down, but Ellis looked at him with that worried expression that screamed it was a bad idea, which it probably was. Whenever him or Nick rushed forward, whether it was out of competition between each other or one of their random bursts of enthusiasm to fight the zombie bastards, things such as getting badly injured by a Hunter or Jockey, getting lost or even just falling and being surrounded by the infected always followed soon behind. And judging by Nick'spissed-at-the-world attitude and outlook of life right now, chances were that one of those **very **pissed off Witches would make sure he doesn't get very far. Ellis had to stop him before he got hurt!

The redneck stepped forward, grabbing Nick's jacket sleeve before he got on the elevator, alerting Rochelle and Coach to turn as well. "What is it, Overalls?" He snapped, his face even more irritated and frustrated then earlier.

"This ain't a good idea, y'all." He said, shaking his head. "There's gotta be another way to the gas station, right?"

"No, there isn't." Nick pulled his sleeve from the mechanic's grip. "We have to go through the sugar cane field, and if you have anymore objections, then hell, just stay here and get killed."

Ellis whimpered pathetically at the comment and stepped into the elevator next to Rochelle, and farthest from Nick. She gave him a pitiful look, then shot a dagger glance at the conman, who didn't even flinch or notice. The mill's elevator wasn't very loud, and when they finally hit the bottom, there were very little zombies to take out. The cries seemed louder down here, keeping everyone on their toes.

"'Aight everybody. Stay together, y'all. We don't want no one gettin' lost and killed now." Coach lectured, pumping his shotgun and taking the first few steps forward. Rain fell on the survivors in thick blankets, leaving their vision hazy and distorted. With his blue eyes receiving a lot of the torture despite his hat, Ellis used a pretty much dry part of the bottom of his shirt to dry around his eyes, stopping behind everyone else.

"'Ey, wait up, kay?" He said, voice muffled into his shirt and into the pattering of the rain. When he pulled his yellow shirt down, the other three were gone, and he couldn't even hear their footsteps. "Guys?" The rain started on harder, making Ellis squint into the water. "Ro? Coach? Nick…?"

He started stumbling around blindly, the rain making it impossible to tell where he was going. His foot caught on a stalk of a sugar cane plant, falling forward and into a puddle. Ellis' lungs caught muddy water and dirt in his breaths, and he sat up, wiping the mud from his eyes as he did before. "Aw dammit." He cursed, blindly groping around for his axe, hoping his shotgun was still strapped to his back. His finger pricked on the blade, and he cursed again. "Shit!" The mechanic withdrew his hand, sticking his wounded finger in his mouth and controlling the bleeding, but his breathing caught as his eyes finally adjusted.

In front of him, about a foot and a half away from his face, was a crouch figure slowly rocking back and forth. Snow white hair fell over paled skin, busted dirt-stained knees were folded out Indian-style as blood red claws nearly a foot long covered them, stretched out in front of the figure. The frail body was covered with nothing more than a tattered and ripped pale-green tank top and a pair of white women's underwear. Ellis swallowed down the scream that threatened to erupt when the soft sobbing and moaning stopped and glowing red eyes looked up at him slowly, meeting his own fear-stricken blue.

"Ah…" he whimpered pathetically before the figure growled, ducking down and seemingly away from him. "N-N-Ni…" he chocked, words stuck in his throat as he watched the claws slink away from him, but knowing they'd make contact soon enough.

Even being twenty-three couldn't hold back his scream anymore as the Witch lunged.

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><p>In the week or two they had been traveling together, Ellis had never been able to shut up, even if for a moment to sleep it seemed, and now, Nick had noted, the mechanic was silent, whether it was the rain drowned out his voice or he just had nothing to say after he got snapped at back at the elevator. Ellis was annoying, but not even getting yelled at was going to shut him up at all, the conman knew. There had to be something wrong with him, right? The gambler's stomach sunk; if it was that entire elevator thing, then he'd feel horrible. He'd never really snapped at Ellis just for voicing his opinion (unless it was stupid), and he had a good point, but Nick was stubborn, and angry.<p>

"Hey, Ellis."

Silence.

"Listen, kid, I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to snap at you."

More silence. Coach and Rochelle chuckled a little from in front of him.

"Hey, you aren't mad, are you?" He lowered his gaze and slowed down. "I really am sorry, y-" He turned around, his eyes widened. "Ellis?"

The two others turned as well, their faces dropping. "Ellis, sweetie, are you back there?" Ro coaxed gently, shielding her eyes from the rain with the back of her hand, looking as far into the distance as she could for the immature mechanic. "Sweetie, Nick was a bit mean, but you don't have to hide. He said sorry."

Nick blushed at the comment, looking away. "I am… C'mon, we gotta-"

That's when they all heard it. Two blood-curdling screams echoed off the mill's walls and seemed to echo off the gas station as it rebounded and came back to their ears several times, making their skin pale even more than it was before. "There were two…" Ro said, looking at Coach with that worried glance she had, making her look almost motherly.

"Yeah. One was definitely a Witch…" the elder exclaimed. Nick felt his heart stop.

"Then that means…"

"DAMMIT ELLIS!"

Before Rochelle could even finish her horrible realization, Nick took off, clutching his gun in his hand hard, thinking of the worst outcome, Ellis dead. That Witch would pay, he knew, and he instantly started to regret so much. _'Ellis, I didn't mean to make fun of your accent, your family, your clothes, state, favorite band, Jimmy Gibbs Jr., or his car. I didn't mean anything I said, and I'm sorry I said what I did. Ellis, I'm sorry…"_

In the distance, a blurry outline of what looked like a zombie crouched down on the ground appeared, and he growled, loading up his gun for the few missing bullets he had shot. He charged forward, not caring about the danger surrounding it, the risk he was taking, how heartbroken (or not) Coach and Rochelle would be when they found him and Ellis dead by the same damn Witch. None of that mattered right now, because the only thing clear in his mind was Ellis, and his safety. "You fucking bitch!" He yelled, making the figure perk up at the command. As soon as he was close, instead of pale clothes and red eyes, he found dark blue, the ugliest yellow he learned to love, brown hair and tanned skin with a baseball cap and gleaming blue eyes. "Nick?" Ellis asked softly, looking up at the conman carefully, not even aware that the elder of the two could tell the difference between his tears and the rain water, but not even caring himself as tears poured out of his eyes. "N-Nick?"

"Ellis, you're…" Nick bit his tongue, then toughened back up, glaring down at him. "We thought you died. Why did you wander off like that?"

The mechanic swallowed audibly. "I…I…"

"We thought you were **dead, **Ellis! Not okay and lost, to be found in the closet like we've planned. No, I mean dead, never going to come back and tell us some stupid Keith story!" Nick fell to his knees in front of Ellis, gripping his shoulders. "Don't **ever **do that again, okay?"

Ellis gaped at him, the stupidest look on his face as the conman's green eyes bore into his own blue. "I do, but Nick, why…"

"Because you're my friend, you dumbass!" Nick growled, then looked down at the Witch's corpse, which was soaked with rain. "Y-You killed it by yourself?"

The mechanic nodded. "Well, yeah. I had just enough time between when it spotted me to when it was ready to lunge to take out my shotgun and shoot it in the face… Granted it did manage to claw up my stomach pretty bad…" He lifted his ripped shirt to show off the flesh-wounded middle, blood seeping from some of the cuts. "It don't hurt that bad, though."

"Wait. You killed a Witch _by yourself_?" Nick asked, mouth hanging open. The rain was starting to let up.

Ellis nodded proudly. "Damn right… But, ow…" He held his middle. "It hurts…"

"Nick! Ellis!"

The two of them smiled, but Nick put a hand under Ellis' chin, making him look back at him. "Ellis, I was worried." And without waiting for the mechanic to answer, he leaned forward, their lips pressed against the others chastely. They parted, and Nick grimaced. "Did you fall face-first into mud? You taste like dirt."

Before the two could continue their conversation, Coach and Ro pushed back one of the stalks and let out a held sigh, looking down at them. "Oh god, you two are okay." Rochelle got to her knees and wrapped her arms around them both, despite her embrace only covered half of them each. "We were so worried after you went off running, Nick."

Nick snorted, and Ellis looked over at him funny. "Well, whatever. We're all here now, aren't we? Let's get going. Ellis' wounds need attention." The conman stood and offered a hand down to Ellis, who took it tentatively, and even squeaked a little when Nick half-carried him all the way to the gas station, secretly holding his hand the entire time.

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><p>After fetching the gas and making their hasty and messy return trip, the group got back to Virgil's boat, filling the tank once again, and their destination of New Orleans in the near future. As the sun set low in the sky, Ellis leaned against the boat's side, watching the night sky's star pass by slowly. He could hear Rochelle and Coach's soft snores from inside the boat, and smiled. They had done it. They had made it all the way to New Orleans, and they were going to be evacuated and live, then everything would be normal again. Ellis smiled, fixed his hat and stood, dusting off some of the dirt on his pants, readjusting his axe and shotgun, both of which were still strapped to his back.<p>

"Overalls."

He turned toward the boat's door, closing it softly and smirking, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "You out here again?"

The mechanic smiled and nodded. "Yeah, only the sun set already. Just the stars tonight."

He saw the fidgeting of his hand in the pocket of the suit's pants, and Ellis' eyebrow quirked. "Whatcha doin', Nick?"

Nick smiled at the kid, and then pulled something that glimmered softly out of his pocket and took a deep breath. "Ellis, we've only know each other for a few weeks, hell not even that much, but I feel like I've known you forever. So, I… um." He pulled the object in his hand for Ellis to see. The mechanic gasped as Nick lowered himself down on one knee. "Ellis, will you marry me?"

Ellis was speechless as he gaped at Nick. Sure, he liked him, and yeah, it was obvious Nick liked him to, and even though they hadn't shown their displays of affection for Ro and Coach to see, it was apparent that they probably knew too. The mechanic blinked stupidly, blue eyes wide. "Ni-Nick, I…" All the fighting, all the arguing and teasing, poking fun of each other, this is what it lead up to. Two weeks, and this is what he got. Ellis swallowed dryly.

"I think, sweetie, you're supposed to say 'yes'."

Both the mechanic and the conman turned and gaped at Rochelle leaning up against the outside of the boat's cabin, smiling at them. Coach was next to him, arms crossed over his chest as he stared down Nick like an overprotective father. That's really what they turned out to be to Ellis, anyway- his family. "Yeah, boy. Don't wanna make Nick wait much longer. He looks ready to fall apart."

Ellis turned to Nick, and sure enough he was shaking slightly, his breathing forced to be regular. The mechanic smiled, tears swelling up in his eyes and he nodded. "Yeah. I dunno why'd you hafta ask." He helped Nick up and accepted his hug without worries. Ro 'awww'd off to the side, and Coach grumbled something along the lines of "this ain't no time for romance", but seemed pleased none the less.

When the mechanic parted from Nick, he turned to Coach, cocking his head to the side. "Hey Coach?"

"Yeah?"

"Can coaches marry people?"

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><p>It wasn't very suspicious afterward. The pieces all fell together, and Rochelle and Coach finally figured out why Nick had been searching all those dead bodies all the way down to New Orleans- he was looking for a ring. He was a no nonsense man, and made that apparent when they stepped onto that elevators all those weeks back, but the search made it clear he had a soft spot too, and that soft spot was for Ellis. Nick was always jealous about Keith, and how much it seemed like he knew about Ellis, and how little he actually did himself, but Ellis told him to not worry, because Keith was always his best buddy, but Nick was more than just that. And forever has it been know, Nick realized, that falling in love changes you just a bit too much.<p>

"Hey, Nick! Wanna have a contest to see who can kill the most zombies?"

Or, maybe not.


End file.
